The Shepherd Rams men’s basketball team (11-6, 7-4) defeated the West Virginia Wesleyan Bobcats (2-15, 2-9 MEC) by a 63-58 score at home Wednesday evening, Jan. 17.
In a sloppy defensive game, the Rams made enough plays to pull out a victory against the Bobcats. With both teams pressing and applying heavy ball pressure, each team had trouble getting clean, open shots.
The Rams and Bobcats seemed evenly matched early in the game, as both teams were battling to put the ball in the hoop. The Bobcats seemed to have some life, ending the first half with a 5-0 run and taking a four-point lead with a 34-30 score in to the break.
West Virginia Wesleyan continued their hot streak early in the second half, pushing their lead up to eight at the 13:15 mark with a layup by sophomore guard Luka Petrovic.
This did not rattle the Rams, however, as they stayed disciplined and battled back.
With a few defensive stops and a couple big shots, the Rams found themselves ahead. Junior guard Derek McKnight gave the Rams the lead back for good with a layup that made the score 51-50 in favor of the Rams with 8:38 left in regulation.
The Bobcats fought hard to get back into the game, but the Rams connected on their free throws down the stretch and put the game away, preserving the 63-58 home victory.
Bobcats junior guard/forward Fred Brondsted lead all scorers in the game with 21 points on 8-for-13 shooting.
Rams senior forward AJ Carr lead the Rams in scoring with 16 points. Sophomore guard Thomas Lang added 13 points on 3-for-6 shooting and a team-high five assists. Senior guard Steffen Davis contributed with 12 points as well by shooting 4-for-11 from the field. All of Davis’ field goal attempts came from behind the three-point line.
Currently, the Rams are in fourth place in the Mountain East Conference (MEC) standings, trailing third place Fairmont State by two games. Shepherd has a 7-4 record in MEC play, while Fairmont State has a 9-2 record in MEC play.
The Rams are back in action on the road against the power house Fairmont State Falcons this
Saturday, Jan. 20, at 4pm.
DJ Cornish is a sports writer for The Picket. He can be reached at dcorni01@rams.shepherd.edu